The Development of Rolls-Royce Merlin Engine — Articles | history | Reference The Development of Rolls-Royce Merlin Engine The Rolls-Royce Merlin III [Crown Copyright] One of the British technical achievements which proved most important for the country’s war effort was the Rolls-Royce ... By John Dell, Martin Waligorski and Wikipedia | Posted on 2010-04-10 | Comments (20) | Category: Articles , Variants & Technology | Tags: history , Reference The Rolls-Royce Merlin III [Crown Copyright] One of the British technical achievements which proved most important for the country’s war effort was the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. It not only powered the Spitfire, but also the Hurricane, Lancaster, Mosquito and the Mustang, together with some variants of the Halifax, Beaufighter and Wellington. The vast majority of Spitfires produced were fitted with various variants of the Merlin. Even today the Merlin is one of the most celebrated piston aero engines of all time. This article attempts to describe the origins of its development.

It Began With a Kestrel The design of the Merlin owns much to the company’s most successful aero engine of the early 1930s, the Rolls-Royce Kestrel. The Kestrel was a successful inline V-12 engine which provided excellent service on a number of RAF aircraft of the period. Most notably, it was selected to power the entire family of highly successful and acclaimed family of Hawker biplanes, the Hart, Audax, Demon, Hardy, Hind and Osprey two-seaters and Fury and Nimrod fighters, the aircraft which had a prominent role during the RAF’s inter-war period. The Kestrel was Rolls-Royce’s first cast-block engine. Earlier aero engine designs had used individually machined steel cylinders that were screwed onto a crankcase, whereas the cast-block design used a single block of aluminium that was machined to form cylinders. The result was both simpler to build as well as lighter, requiring only an investment in new machining equipment. The idea of a cast-block came about through excellent American Curtiss D-12, one of the first truly successful cast-block engines.

The D-12 was one of the most powerful engines of its era, and continued to swap records with other high-power engines of its era. No British company could offer anything like it, and when Fairey selected it for their Fairey Felix design the Air Ministry had enough and ordered Napier & Son and Rolls-Royce to start work on cast-block engines of their own. The most gifted engineer at Napier and the designer of the famous Napier Lion, Arthur Rowledge, had become disillusioned by Napier’s management and Rolls-Royce quickly seized the opportunity to offer him a job and a position in charge of the Kestrel development. Applying every known advance since the D-12 was introduced, Rowledge designed the new engine to use supercharging at all altitudes, allowing it to outperform “naturally aspirated” engines by as much as they were willing to increase the boost pressure. The third key advance in the Kestrel was the use of a pressurized cooling system. Water boils at 100 °C at standard atmospheric pressure, but this temperature decreases with altitude.

As it does so its ability to carry heat away from the engine drops, to the point where at high altitudes a gigantic radiator needs to be used to cool it again. The solution was to pressurize the entire cooling system, thereby not only preventing the drop in cooling performance with altitude, but in fact increasing the boiling point even on the ground. The Kestrel was built to maintain enough pressure to keep the boiling point at about 150 °C. The Kestrel was first produced in 1927 at 450 hp, which soon improved in the IB model to 525 hp. This model saw widespread use in the famed Hawker Hart family that dominated British air power during the early 1930s. However it was not long before line improvements increased power dramatically; the V model provided 695 hp at 3,000 rpm with no basic change to the design, while the XVI used in the Miles Master delivered 745 hp. In 1935, Messerschmitt also tested its Messerschmitt Bf 109 V1 prototype monoplane fighter with Kestrel engine.

Increased availability of higher octane aviation fuels in the late 1930s allowed the engine to be boosted to even higher power levels without suffering from ping, and the Kestrel eventually topped out at 1,050 hp (780 kW) in the Kestrel XXX model of 1940. The Peregrine In the early 1930s, Rolls-Royce started planning for the future of its aero engine development programmes and eventually settled on pursuing two main designs. The 700-horsepower Rolls-Royce Peregrine was to be an updated, supercharged development of the existing 22 litre Rolls-Royce Kestrel. Two Peregrines bolted together on a common crankshaft into an X-24 layout would create the 1,700 hp 44 litre Rolls-Royce Vulture for use in larger and heavier aircraft such as bombers.

There was also the possibility that the famous 36-litre ‘R’ engine from the Supermarine racing planes, itself a development of the Rolls-Royce Buzzard, could be developed into a 1,500 hp-class engine, a sort of scaled-up Kestrel. This line design materialized only much later, leading the Rolls-Royce Griffon. Initial development of the Peregrine promised to be very successful. However, the Peregrine-Vulture plan left a large gap between 700 and 1,500 horsepower, and Henry Royce saw the need for a more powerful 12-cylinder engine that would utilise the technology developed from the Kestrel production and could be fitted to single-engine aircraft. The company management authorised the project to develop on a new 1,100 hp-class design under the designation PV-12. PV stood for “private venture” as the company received no government money for development of such engine. PV-12 becomes the Merlin The PV-12 was initially designed to use the new water/steam evaporative cooling system then in vogue, similar to one previously (and unsuccessfully) used with the Rolls-Royce Goshawk.

The new engine was first run on 15 October 1933 and first flown in April 1935 powering the Hawker Hart biplane. Later on the old the company-owned Hawker Horsley became testbed aircraft for the second prototype engine. In 1936, Rolls-Royce decided to invest in a more flexible flying testbed and the choice fell on Heinkel He 70, high-performance German courier aircraft which also had an enclosed passenger cabin from which several engineers could monitor the engine in flight. One example of He 70G powered with Kestrel V was purchased by Rolls-Royce and subsequently used in the Merlin tests during 1936-1937. Never resolved problems with the evaporative system manifested themselves with all clarity during trials. The system was notoriously failing during taxiing, when there was no cooling airflow around the condensers and thus the steam could not be cooled quickly enough. Similar problems occurred during climbs at high power, this time for the surplus of heat produced by the engine which exceeded the maximum capacity of the cooling system.

Fortunately, in mid-1930s Prestone in the United States has perfected the use of ethylene glycol as a new and cooling medium, much more efficient than water. As glycol became available, the PV-12 was changed to the conventional liquid cooling system instead. In 1936, the Air Ministry revised their requirements for new fighter aircraft. One of the most fundamental changes was the requirements for airspeed over 300 mph (480 km/h). This would clearly require an engine with more power than the planned 700 hp of the Peregrine, and having learned about the performance of the new Rolls-Royce engine, the government became instantly interested and decided to fund its subsequent development. It is then that the engine received the name Merlin. The name came from the bird – a small falcon also known as “pigeon hawk” – rather than King Arthur’s legendary magician. However, in the film The First of the Few, Sir Henry Royce refers to King Arthur’s Merlin rather than the bird, but his could be due to some propaganda purposes of the day. Further modifications to the prototype were designated by capital letters.

Thus the Merlin B became the first to use ethylene glycol cooling system; further modifications included changes to the cylinder head and cylinder block castings well as the the cooling system. Merlin C was sufficiently developed to power the prototypes of new metal stressed-skin monoplanes for the RAF. On 6 November 1935 the prototype Hawker Hurricane (as yet unnamed), took off to its maiden flight, powered by Merlin C producing 900hp and driving a Watts fixed-pitch two-bladed wooden propeller. This was followed by the Fairey Battle which first flew on 10 March 1936, and the Supermarine Spitfire prototype K5054 on 5 march 1936. Altogether, Rolls-Royce built and tested at least 33 prototype engines, ending with the production-ready Merlin F. This engine could develop 1,035 hp and was, among other trials, fitted to the Spitfire prototype. Merlin Enters Production The first production version Merlin I was assigned for Fairey Battle production. Only 175 had been built and these were considered to be rather unreliable.

As a result, Rolls-Royce introduced an ambitious reliability-improvement programme to fix the problems. This consisted of taking random engines from the end of assembly line and running them continuously at full power until they failed. Each was then dismantled to find out which part had failed, and that part was redesigned to be stronger. After two years of this programme the Merlin had matured into one of the most reliable aero engines in the world, and could sustain eight-hour combat missions with no problems. A particular problem with Merlin I was its ‘ramp head’ where the inlet valves were at a 45-degree angle to the cylinder. This solution was not a success and was replaced with Kestrel-style conventional flat head arrangement wherein the valves are parallel to the cylinder. This modification was designated Merlin II. The Merlin II was introduced in 1938 and after that the production was quickly stepped up. Development of a constant-speed propeller lead to the Merlin III, which was the Merlin II adapted for the use of such propeller and provided with a constant-speed unit. Merlin II and Merlin III were produced in great numbers, over 9700 in total.

These engines powered just about every new RAF aircraft of the period: Hawker Hurricane Mk. I, Supermarine Spitfire Mk. I, Boulton-Paul Defiant Mk. I, Fairey Battle Mk. I, Hawker Henley. The Only Alternative As it turned out, the Peregrine saw use in only two aircraft, the Westland Whirlwind and the Gloster F9/37 prototype. Although the Peregrine appeared to be a satisfactory design, it was never allowed to fully mature; Rolls-Royce’s top priority was then troubleshooting the Merlin. More importantly, the Peregrine did not have the development potential as the Merlin, and the excellent Whirlwind fighter that was powered by a pair of Peregrines was only produced in small quantities. The Vulture was developed, but proved unreliable owing to excessive problems with lubrication. Consequently, it had a very troubled time in development and two aircraft programmes based on the Vulture, the Avro Manchester bomber and the Hawker Tornado fighter had to be cancelled. With the Merlin pushing into the 1,500 hp range, the Peregrine and Vulture were both cancelled in 1943.

It was supplanted in service by the Rolls-Royce Griffon which was a development of the R engine. The Griffon only became available in quantity during the last two years of the war. Britain’s second manufacturer of in-line aero engines, Napier, was pursuing the development of 24-cylinder H-pattern engines, of indisputable potential but far greater complexity. Napier Dagger of the 1,000 hp-class was the first engine with this layout and had problems with cooling, maintenance, manufacturing and weight. These problems weren’t solved during the Dagger’s lifetime. The Dagger powered the Hawker Hector and Handley Page Hereford, both produced in strictly limited numbers and never used operationally. The 2,000 hp Napier Sabre became available in any numbers during 1942, but the unresolved problems of its predecessor plus unreliable valves dogged its service introduction on the Hawker Typhoon during entire 1943. Thus it was the Merlin that had to meet all Britain’s in-line aero-engine needs for the early war years.

Rolls-Royce Merlin III Specifications THE ROLLS ROYCE V12 R MERLIN ENGINE Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce is a set of several companies, all deriving from the automobile and aero-engine company founded by Henry Royce and Charles.S. Rolls in 1906. Rolls Royce plc, by far the most significant in economic terms, is a British engineering firm these days specializing in turbine-based products, particularly aero engines, but providing a wide range of civil and military engineering products and services. Official site: In 1928 Vickers Aviation took over Supermarine. In 1938 Supermarine and Vickers were taken over by Vickers-Armstrong. The first Supermarine landplane to go into production was the famous Spitfire, which proved to be a successful design and, along with the Hawker Hurricane, entered into legend after its role in the Battle of Britain. In 1936 the Air Ministry called for new fighter aircraft A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for attacking other aircraft. Compare with bomber.

Fighters are comparatively small, fast, and highly manoeuverable, and have been fitted with increasingly sophisticated tracking and weapons systems to find and shoot down other aircraft. The Merlin engine was essential to Britain`s war effort, it not only powered the Spitfire, but also the Hurricane, Lancaster and Mosquito. The Spitfires in the Battle of Britain were fitted with the Merlin III of 1,030 horsepower. Developed as a replacement for the Kestrel engine that had powered the RAF's graceful Fury Biplanes in the `30s, and whose development had been spurred by the American Curtiss engines, it is perhaps surprising that the Merlin was designed at all. When the Merlin was on the drawing board a simple development of the Kestrel called the Peregrine promised to be very successful, and a 24 cylinder variant called the Vulture was hoped to give 1,700 horsepower. There was also the chance that the "R" engine that had powered the Supermarine S6 could be developed as a production engine (the Griffon). Thus the Merlin was seen as something of a stop-gap to fill the void between the Vulture and the Kestrel.

It is just as well the Merlin existed, the Vulture engine had a very troubled time in development and two aircraft programmes based on it, the Avro Manchester bomber and the Hawker Tornado fighter had to be cancelled. The Peregrine overcame some early problems, but simply did not have the development potential of the Merlin, and the excellent Whirlwind fighter that was powered by a pair of Peregrines was only produced in small quantities. The Griffon only became available in quantity during the last two years of the war. Of course there was another manufacturer of in-line engines in Britain, D. Napier and Sons, but again both of their major engine projects, the Dagger of 1,000 hp and the Sabre of 2,000 hp, had problems. Napier persevered with the Sabre, but it was only during 1942 that they became available in any numbers to power the Hawker Typhoon. Thus it was the Merlin that had to meet all Britain`s in-line aeroengine needs for the early war years. The Merlin was at first designed to have a novel cooling system.

Evaporative cooling was to be provided by condensers in the wings with a small retractable radiator for use at low speeds and when taxiing. Evaporative cooling is a system in which latent heat of evaporation is used to carry heat away from an object to cool it. The latent heat contains a considerable amount of energy, and carries away more heat than if the same temperature liquid was simply removed physically. The simplest example would be sweat, which the body secretes in order to cool itself. The amount of heat transfer depends on the evaporation rate, which in turn depends on the humidity of the air and its temperature, which is why you sweat more on hot, humid days. Then Rolls-Royce adopted Ethylene Glycol as a coolant, which is more efficient than water, a radiator for the new coolant could be much smaller than those used with water-cooled engines, the wing condensers were then done-away with. The cooling system was vulnerable to damage by gunfire, particularly as the header tank was situated at the very front of the aircraft. A hit here by the rear gunner of a German bomber would cause a Spitfire pilot to have to break off his attack and land before the engine overheated.

Even worse, pure Ethelene Glycol is flammable and added to the risk of the engine catching fire. Ethylene glycol was first prepared in 1859 by the French chemist Charles Wurtz. It was produced on a small scale during World War I as a coolant and as an ingredient in explosives. Widespread industrial production began in 1937, when its precursor ethylene oxide became cheaply available, the engine was switched to this system instead. Ethylene glycol (IUPAC name:ethane-1,2-diol) is a chemical compound widely used as an automotive coolant and antifreeze. In its pure form, it is a odorless, colorless, syrupy liquid with a sweet taste. Ethylene glycol is toxic, and its accidental ingestion should be considered a medical emergency. Designed by Rolls-Royce as a private-venture, the Merlin was able to take advantage of the new 100 octane fuel developed in the U.S.A. The Merlin only had one disadvantage when compared with German engines, the latter were fitted with fuel injection to deliver a precise charge of petrol to the combustion chamber.

The Merlin still used a carburettor, which had the advantage of being much simpler and needing much fewer components, but it did cause the Merlin to "conk-out" if negative G forces were applied. Thus a German pilot with a Spitfire on his tail could simply pull negative G nosing into a dive and the Spitfire would fall behind until the engine picked up, only a matter of a second or two, but that second was all the German needed. Spitfire pilots developed a way around this by doing a half-roll before following into a dive. This meant that the force of gravity acted in the opposite direction and the Merlin was unaffected. In 1941 a carburettor modification, developed by Miss Tilly Shilling, enabled the Merlin to carry on working with short periods of negative G, a vital stop-gap until the introduction of true negative G carburettors in 1943. Merlin development might have stagnated after 1940, any further increases in power needed a more efficient means of transferring the heat away from the engine. Rolls Royce responded with a mixture of water and Ethelyne Glycol which was put under pressure.

This mixture also reduced the fire risk associated with using pure Ethelyne Glycol. This system was first used in the Merlin XII used in the Spitfire Mk II. The rapid introduction of this system was only made possible by everything Rolls Royce had learnt about pressurised cooling when developing the Goshawk and early Merlin condenser systems. The RR Merlin engine in Miss Bardahl, one of the most successful racing hydroplanes in the 1960s - three times Gold Cup winner. This the view from the cockpit forward. Imagine the noise, hence the nickname 'Roar of the Dragon.' As piston engines get higher, they lose power because the air gets thinner. What is needed is a fan to suck more air into the engine and improve combustion, just like bellows in a furnace. Such a device is called a supercharger, today more commonly a turbocharger would be used. It was the introduction of a more powerful two-stage supercharger to the Merlin that produced the leap in performance of the Mark VIII and IX Spitfires. A supercharger is a gas compressor used to pump a fuel/air mixture, the charge, into the cylinders of an internal combustion engine.

This increases the concentration of oxygen and fuel in the charge making the engine more powerful. It is similar in purpose to the closely related turbocharger, but differs in that the supercharger is powered by gearing (or belts) off the engine's crankshaft, while the turbocharger is powered by the pressure of exhaust gases driving a turbine. The Merlin was produced under licence in America by the Packard company. These engines were used in the Spitfire XVI, but they also found use as the powerplant that enabled the P51 Mustang to be transformed from a low altitude army cooperation fighter into the long range, high altitude nemesis of the Luftwaffe. One thing that is often forgotten is that the capacity of the Merlin was quite small when compared to the opposition. The Merlin had a capacity of 27 litres, whereas the DB601 of the Messerschmitt was 39 litres and the BMW801 engine of the Focke-Wulf 190 had 42 litres. The superiority of the later Merlin engined Spitfires (ie Mk IX) over these Luftwaffe aircraft is all the more remarkable when this is remembered.

PACKARD V-1650 "MERLIN" ENGINE The V-1650 liquid-cooled engine was the U.S. version of the famous British Rolls-Royce "Merlin" engine which powered the "Spitfire" and "Hurricane" fighters during the Battle of Britain in 1940. In Sept. 1940, the Packard Co. agreed to build the Merlin engine for both the American and the British Governments, and adapted it for American mass-production methods. The first two Packard-built Merlins to be completed were demonstrated on test stands at a special ceremony at the Packard plant in Detroit on August 2, 1941. Full production began in 1942 and by the end of World War II, 55,873 Merlins had been produced in the U.S.A. The Army Air Forces used the engine almost exclusively in the famed P-51 "Mustang", for it provided greatly improved high-altitude performance over the Allison V-1710 engine used in earlier series of the airplane.

The V-1650 Merlin also replaced the V-1710 in the "F" series of the P-40. The British also used Packard-built Merlins during the last three years of the war in their "Spitfire", "Mosquito", and "Lancaster" airplanes. Rolls Royce Phantom "Waterspeed" commemorative edition drophead coupe. This special limited run of custom cars is dedicated to Sir Malcolm Campbell and the famous K3 . The Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupï¿½ Waterspeed Collection was previewed to selected UK press and customers at an exclusive event on the site of the original Bluebird Motor Company ï¿½ now the Bluebird Restaurant ï¿½ on the Kingï¿½s Road, London on Tuesday 13 May 2014. Merlin (Falco columbarius) is a falcon found throughout the northern parts of the Northern hemisphere in Canada and northern Europe. In North America it was once known as the pigeon hawk, and its scientific name (from columba, a dove) also refers to this popular prey item.

However, the merlin is a falcon, not a hawk, so the old name is to be avoided. (a small falcon ) Falcons A Falcon is any of several species of bird of the genus Falco, such as the Peregrine Falcon which are raptors or 'birds of prey'. Falcons have thin, pointed wings, which allow them to dive at extremely high speeds. (Peregrine Falcons are said to have reached speeds of up to 200 mph.) also known as "pigeon hawk") rather than King Arthur's legendary magician An aircraft is any machine capable of atmospheric flight. The origin of engineering was the working of engines. There is an overlap in English between two meanings of the word "engineer": 'those who operate engines' and 'those who design and construct new items'. This website is Copyright ï¿½ 2014 Bluebird Marine Systems Limited. The names Bluebird ï¿½, Ecostar DC50 ï¿½, Blueplanet BE3 ï¿½ and the blue bird in flight logo are trademarks. The color blue is a registered feature of the bird mark. All other trademarks are hereby acknowledged.

Rolls-Royce Merlin Engine During World War II, thousands of Rolls-Royce Merlin engines powered several famous aircraft such as the Supermarine Spitfire , Hawker Hurricane , DeHavilland Mosquito , P-51 Mustang , and the Avro Lancaster . The Merlin engine was developed in England in 1936, and was used in the prototype Spitfire F39/34. In 1939, a Rolls-Royce Merlin MK II engine, producing 1,030 hp, was selected to power the first production Spitfire . In early 1941, Packard Motors was licensed to build Merlin engines. The majority of Packard built Merlins were destined for what is considered by most to be the best fighter of World War II, the North American P-51 Mustang . The first Mustangs were powered by the Allison V-1710 engine, but by 1943, the Mustang P51B & C, (RAF Mustang III) were powered by a V-1650-3 Packard Merlin engine producing 1,520 hp.

In Canada, the Packard Merlins were designated Merlin 28 and 29. Later models of the Curtiss P-40 were also powered by Packard Merlins. The standard engine for the P-51D Mustang was the liquid-cooled, l2-cylinder, Packard-built, Rolls-Royce Merlin V-1650-3 or -7 developing 1,400 hp at take-off. The original Mustangs were fitted with low-altitude rated Allison V-1710 engines, but as the possibilities of the Mustang as a high-altitude fighter was realized, it was decided to fit the aircraft with a Merlin engine. For this purpose, four Mustang Mark Is were sent to Rolls-Royce for use as development aircraft, AL963, AL975, AM203 and AM208. Merlin 61 series engines were installed with a frontal radiator, in addition to the normal ventral scoop. The Mustang/Rolls-Royce combination was an instant success and it was adopted as standard for all the Mustang variants. To increase engine production, Packard was selected to build the Merlin under license.

The Merlin was fitted with an injection-type carburetor and a two-stage supercharger. The carburetor however, was at a disadvantage in maintaining positive fuel flow during negative G maneuvers causing the engine to sputter or cut-out. Unlike the German Daimler-Benz DB 601 which uses fuel-injection, this system maintains positive fuel flow when pulling negative Gs. Fuel-injection allowed many a Messerschmitt Bf 109 pilot to escape a Spitfire on its tail and return to fight another day. The -3 engine supercharger cut-in at 19,000 feet, and the -7, between 14,500 and 19,000 feet. The supercharger was automatic, but could be manually over ridden. In order to give the engine an extra burst of power during an emergency, the throttle could be pushed past the gate stop by breaking the safety wire. If used longer than five minutes, there was a risk of severe engine damage. There was no doubt when the supercharger cut into the high-blower position on the P-51 Mustang . The aircraft shuddered violently and pilots had to learn to anticipate the cut-in and reduce throttle.

When descending, the change to low-blower took place at about 14,500 feet, and the only indication of the event was a drop in manifold pressure. The Packard Merlin drove either a four-blade Hamilton-Standard Hydromatic or Aeroproducts automatic, constant-speed propeller. Coolant (30/70 ethylene-glycol/water) and oil radiators were installed in the pronounced belly scoop radiator fairing under the fuselage. One weakness of the Merlin was that it could be put out of action by a single bullet or shrapnel, but this applied to all liquid-cooled engines and did not detract from the Mustang's all-round capabilities. The Mustang was a welcome sight to the Boeing B-17 Fortress crews as they plunged deep into German skies during the daylight offensive against the Nazi armament industries. The Merlin went through continuous development throughout World War II, ending up with at MK 71. The Merlin series was then superseded by the Griffon series. Specifications: The Supermarine Spitfire and it’s Mighty Merlin Engine – Aces Flying High An Aussie's travels to air shows, aviation museums and related events around the world, with a bit of aerospace history along the way!

The Supermarine Spitfire and it’s Mighty Merlin Engine Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire introduced into the Royal Air Force in 1938 found fame during the Battle of Britain in World War Two (1940)and served with distinction in many Air Forces around the World for many years. It suffered from a lack of range (like most fighters designed in the 1930’s) but was perfect for short ranged interceptor missions with its high-speed, maneuverability and powerful armament. The dog fighters dream! The Spitfire with it’s distinctive elliptical wings (they taper at the wingtips to minimize) and smooth lines is almost a work of art (a deadly one at that) and has become one of the most famous aircraft from World War Two. It was produced from 1938 to 1948 with over 20,000 built (different variants). Many examples of the Spitfire remain in aviation museums around the world but less than 50 remain flight capable (the majority are in the UK, but more are being restored).

I have been fortunate enough to see a number of Spitfire’s over the years (flying and static) including often seeing 2 flying Spitfire’s back in Australia ( Temora Aviation Museum ), and luckily 2 Spitfire’s fly regularly right here in Washington State too ( Flying Heritage Collection and Historic Flight Foundation ). The Flying Heritage Collection in Everett, Washington have an immaculate Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vc which they fly regularly each summer (this particular aircraft from 1942 flew in the British-based free Czech 312 Squadron). I have seen this Spitfire a number of times in the past 12 months but on a visit to this museum on February 10th, 2012 I got to take a very different look at this famous aircraft by seeing what is under the cowl (the sheet metal around the engine of an aircraft). The normal view of Spitfire Mk.Vc at Flying Heritage Collection (2011) The mighty Rolls Royce Merlin engine of the Spitfire was on full display as it was undergoing annual maintenance. In fact every hatch on the aircraft was open and even the propeller hub was removed. A very unusual way to see this normally very sleek fighter.

Spitfire Mk.Vc at Flying Heritage Collection (Feb 2012) Rolls Royce Merlin The Spitfire was powered by a succession of Rolls Royce Merlin V-12 engines throughout World War Two (the same engine which also powered many famous aircraft: Avro Lancaster , DeHavilland Mosquito , Hawker Hurricane and North American P-51 Mustang ). It was eventually replaced by the more powerful Rolls Royce Griffon V-12 engine (piston engined fighters needed more power and speed). Rolls Royce Merlin The Spitfire Mk.Vc was powered by a 1,470-hp Rolls Royce Merlin 45 engine which produced a top speed of 374 mph / 602 kmph. To hear it running and in flight is something special, but to get a close up look at a fully operational engine and how it is connected to the airframe is a unique experience. I felt like I was getting a glimpse into the past, the engine looked brand new! For a moment I could easily have been standing in a hangar in the 1940’s.

Spitfire Mk.Vc Griffon: Chance to own rare successor of the Rolls Royce Merlin engine as three are auctioned | Daily Mail Online comments It is an engine whose distinctive roar can make the heart leap. The successor of the great Merlin engine, the Rolls Royce Griffon also played its part in helping to win the Second World War when it was fitted to iconic warbirds such as the Spitfire. Now three excellent examples of the type are set to go under the hammer and sell for thousands of pounds. Scroll down for video of Griffon engines being started up Piston power: Auction house worker Kirsty Gardner is pictured with the three Griffon engines which provided the power for British planes such as the Spitfire towards the end of the Second World War and beyond Things of beauty: Two of the giant Rolls Royce Griffon engines that will sold at auction. The type propelled later model Spitfires in the Second World War The three 36.7 litre V12 engines were used in Supermarine Spitfires and the four-engined post-war Avro Shackleton - and are examples of the advanced technology which helped achieve superiority over the Germans.

RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share Today just one Shackleton and fewer than 60 Spitfires originally fitted with one of these engines are still flying anywhere in the world. Iconic: The positioning of the 12 pistons in a 'V'-shape gives the Rolls Royce engine its distinctive shape And the majority of the left-over engines were disposed of after the War - some even tipped down a mine shaft just to get rid of them. The mammoth engines were discovered in a barn in Derbyshire during a house call to see furniture and ‘some stuff in the shed’ and are expected to make more than £10,000 each. Bamfords Auctioneer Steven Iredale said: 'These extremely rare pieces of British history have been saved from destruction for more than 30 years.

Maritime reconnaissance: The Griffon engines powered the Avro Shackleton, a post-war Coastal Command aircraft used for sea patrols Nation's favourite: A Supermarine Spitfire, they type which was eventually fitted with superior Griffon engines THE SOARING GRIFFON ENGINE The Griffon was the last in the line of V-12 aero engines to be produced by Rolls-Royce with production ceasing in 1955. Griffon engines remain in Royal Air Force service today with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and also power the last remaining airworthy Avro Shackleton - which flies in South Africa. In line with Rolls-Royce convention the Griffon was named after a bird of prey, in this case the Griffon Vulture and was commissioned by the Fleet Air Arm as a larger, more powerful version of the Merlin engine for use in naval aircraft. Although the Griffon was designed for naval aircraft, on 8 November 1939 N. E. Rowe of the Air Ministry suggested fitting the Griffon in a Supermarine Spitfire and this was achieved in 1941.

Spitfire XII's were the first recipient of the Griffon, a number of subsequent Spitfires retained Merlin power but towards the end of Spitfire production all were powered by Griffons. Towards the end of the war Coastal Command found a need for a new land-based Maritime Reconnaissance aircraft culminating in Specification R5/46, which became the Avro Shackleton, a descendant of the Lincoln and Lancaster bombers, with four Griffon engines. The Shackleton first flew in 1949 and the MK 1A Shackleton, with uprated Griffon 57A engines entered service with 120 Sqn. in April 1951. Production of the Griffon ceased in 1955 a total of 8,108 being built. 'They were part of a collection belonging to Dan Taylor who has dedicated his life to the preservation and conservation of Vintage Aircraft. 'He had rescued these engines which he thought were of little worth as well as saving the original patterns for the legendary World War Two Merlin engine from a skip.

'While serving with the RAF he was involved in the making of the Dambusters movie, and almost every Spitfire still flying today owes something to his expertise - he is a real unsung hero of British military aviation history. 'The sale will also include his extensive collection of aircraft parts including propellers, an anti-gravity test rig and a Spitfire gun camera. 'It’s one of the most unusual and exciting sales we have ever handled and has already attracted worldwide interest. 'It’s something we have never dealt with before and even more unusual as we only went to see the furniture in his house and shed and came across these two and a half tonne nine foot giants.' Other items that will excite aviation fans include a Stromberg injection carburetor which was part of a P51 Mustang engine. The lots also include pistons believed to have come from a Merlin engine as well as 13 magneto generators that date from both world wars and some from the present day. The three identical engines are Rolls Royce Griffon mk.58 V12s. The 36.7 litre supercharged engines are capable of producing 1,960 horse power and are liquid-cooled.

One has no flying hours left and was removed from R.A.F. 8 Squadron Avro Shackleton maritime patrol aircraft WL745 1980. Another has 62 flying hours remaining and was removed from R.A.F. 8 Squadron Avro Shackleton maritime patrol aircraft WL747 1980. Both are mounted on wooden stands and are dated approximately 1952. The collection will form part of Bamfords mammoth four-day Antique, Fine Art and Collectors’ Sale from 26-29 June. Remarkable find: The engines are in reasonable conditions despite being stored in a barn for 30 years Mark of quality: The Rolls-Royce branding on the engine casing. the company's factory produced more than 8,000 of the type A piece of history: This label shows the engines were removed by a Sergeant Grimbly at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland and give safety notes about the coolant system, fuel injectors and piston cylinders

Question: What type of Rolls Royce engine was used to power the later makes of Spitfire?
Answer: GRIFFON